Otherworld
by UnfortunateKingdom
Summary: He's found in the strangest of places. He's saved by the strangest of girls. He winds up with the strangest group. A fanfic combining things from ffx and x2. BACK FROM THE DEAD! THIS STORY WILL BE RE-POSTED AND CONTINUED ON A NEW ACCOUNT! READ NEW CH.!
1. Prolouge

**Otherworld**

**Prolouge**

He couldn't remember anything. Where he was, where he'd been, what he was doing, who he was. It scared him at first, but then he finally began to realize that he must be dying. He tried to remember something... anything about his life. He held his hand infront of his face, but it triggered no memories. It was a worn hand - lightly calloused, jagged fingernails... he wondered what he had done with this hand. Sighing he dropped his hand back down by his side. If he was to die now, he wanted to die without any worries. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Things had been dim anyway, but now that his eyes were shut he was encased in complete darkness.

He was finally beginning to relax and let go of his thoughts when all of a sudden there was a loud explosion and an even louder thud. He snapped open his eyes, only to shut them again quickly. It was so bright... so incredibly bright. Little colored dots jumped around in front of his closed eyelids, and he winced. So this was death? The light at the end of the tunnel thing wasn't just a metaphor...

"_Hey, wait you guys! There's someone down there!_" He heard a faint voice call. Since he couldn't understand the words being spoken, he just closed his eyes tighter.

"_Rikku, get away from there, it's dangerous!"_

_"But there's someone down there! We can't destroy this place with someone inside! What if they're still alive? We're supposed to save any poor soul we find in the ruins, it's our duty!"_

Everyting was silent for a moment, and he thought maybe he would finally be put to rest, when all of sudden he was violently jerked out of his comfortable position, and not very gracefully at that. He let out a scream and his eyes snapped open. Everything was blurry at first, and dark circles swam before his eyes. His vision came back just enough for him to realize that he was looking into the face of a girl.

"You okay?"She was the voice he had heard, and now he was looking right at her, watching her speak in a language he understood. She had honey blonde hair decorated with several braids and beads. She wore a strange orange and blue leather outfit with many belts and buckles on it. Large metal shoulder guards armored her, and a pair of goggles rested atop her head. He figured she must be an angel, but he had never imagined angels came dressed in this sort of attire.

"You... must be an angel," he said with a smile. He saw a look of confusion pass the girl's face before his mind went blank, and everything became dark.


	2. One

**One**

He awoke to the sound of a loud explosion, surprised that his eardrums didn't burst from the noise. He felt the ground beneath him shaking and he bolted upright.

He lay on a small mat in a covered area of a small deck that seemed to be flying away from a mess of smoke and fire in the distance. Several people stood in his line of vision, all wearing similar leather outfits with various buckles and snaps. They were all high fiving each other and speaking in a language he couldn't understand. All of a sudden one of the people turned around, and he came face to face with the girl whom he could have sworn was an angel.

"_You're awake!_" she squealed in the language he couldn't understand. She rushed over and kneeled down beside him. "Me and the rest of my party were wiring those ruins down there with explosives when I found you! We had already scanned the ruins for any signs of life, but there were none... it's a miracle I found you before we blasted the ruins to bits, you could've been killed!" The girl said, without taking a breath. "How did you get down there? Why were you down there? What's your name? Where are you from?" she asked him quickly. He just blinked, trying to take it all in.

"Uh... I... I can't remember," he said, glancing down at the floor. The girl let out a moan and dropped from her knees to her butt with a very hard _thud_.

"_Rikku, how many times do I have to tell you to quit thumping around the hover like that, you're going to sink it and get us all killed!" _one of the men standing in the group several feet away said with a smirk.

"_Shut up! If anyone's going to get us killed, it's you!_" the girl said with a frown. She crossed her arms and turned back to face him. "You have to remember something! Your name... what you were doing down there... _something_ like that!" He pondered the question for a moment. Why could he not remember anything about himself? Did he have a concusion or amnesia? He looked up at the girl and frowned.

"Who are _you_ anyway?" he said, realizing she hadn't introduced herself either.

"Me? I'm Rikku, fourth in command of the Gullwings, master thief, and your rescuer. So I think you owe me at least a few basic details about yourself," the girl now identified as Rikku smirked, glancing over at him.

"I... uh... I honestly can't remember anything about myself, I'm sorry. Maybe things will come back to me in a few minutes," he said, rubbing his head.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Rikku scoffed, crossing her arms. "Can you at least remember what you were _doing_ down in those ruins?" He thought for a moment, trying to piece together any information he could muster.

"I... I thought I was dead. Or dying. That's all I remember. I don't know how I got there or what I was doing before or where I come from," he said, scratching his head. Rikku looked over him, her gaze sharp.

"Can you remember what your name is?" she asked. He sighed and buried his face in his hands. He tried to remember, but things were all a blurr. He dragged his hands down his face, causing his cheeks to stretch a little. Suddenly his fingers touched something hanging around his neck. He glanced down at the object and was thrown back into a horizontal position as memories slammed him like a freight train.

He was almost rendered unconscious again, but after a few minutes of blurry confusion in which he couldn't decipher his sudden rush of memories from his reality, he returned to normal.

"Hey, you okay?" Rikku asked. She leaned over him, her big blue-green eyes wide with concern.

"My... my name is Tidus. I'm nineteen years old, and I could've sworn that I died," he said awkwardly, the words flying out of his mouth as if someone else was speaking them. He could remember now... his name was Tidus and he was nineteen years old. He chanted it over and over in his head, so he wouldn't forget.

"Well at least you remembered something," Rikku said with a laugh as she sat back on her knees. Tidus sat back up again, and looked down at the object that had flooded his memories. It was a silver chain necklace with an odd shaped pendant in the middle. It seemed normal, but why had touching it caused him to be flooded with memories?

"I'm sorry I can't remember any more," Tidus said, after probing his mind to see if he could remember anything else.

"Eh, it's okay," Rikku said, standing up. "A lot of the people we pick up usually take awhile to regain their memories. I'm just glad you were able to tell me something. Are you able to stand?" She asked, looking down at him. Tidus slowly rose to his feet, and steadied himself.

"Looks like it," he said, running a hand through his hair. Rikku nodded and then turned back to her group and said a few things in the language Tidus couldn't understand before turned back to him.

"Uh... what did you just say?" Tidus asked.

"Oh. That's right, of course you can't speak Al Bhed, most of the people we pick up can't," Rikku murmured. Tidus raised his eyebrows.

"Al Bhed?" he asked.

"Yeah that's what most of the crew is, Al Bhed. Myself included. The language I'm speaking in is Al Bhed. Only a few of the crew members can speak english, and I'm one of them!" Rikku said with a smile.

"Crew? Of what?" Tidus asked.

"The Gullwings of course!" Rikku said with a smile. Noticing Tidus was still confused, Rikku continued. "We're sphere hunters that protect Spira and the likes of innocent people. We take the homeless and the lost aboard our ship and nurse them back to health and help them find their families or get a new start," Rikku said.

"On this little hovercraft?" Tidus said looking around the small space he, Rikku, and the other few people were standing on. Rikku snorted and shook her head.

"Turn around," she said, waving her finger in a circular motion. Tidus slowly turned his head and let his mouth drop. Ahead of him flew an enormous ship that hovered in the sky. It was bright red in color and had flame decals running up the sides. Sparkly neon blue exaust flew from several parts of the airship, and Tidus noticed that the hover was heading for an open part of the ship that seemed to be a landing bay.

"You guys use _that_?" Tidus said, shocked. Rikku nodded proudly as the hover pulled into the landing bay and hit the metal ground inside with a thump. Rikku jumped out of the hover and spread her arms.

"It's our home! Not to mention it has excellent mileage, great weaponry range, and plenty of room," she said. "Need help getting out of the hover?"

"No, I'm alright," Tidus said. He saw there was no door on the hover, so it looked like he'd have to jump over the side railings like Rikku had done. On any other day he would have been able to clear the railing with ease, but since today he had been found in who knows where and he could scarcely remember his own name, all he could do was straddle the railing, and then fall to the floor on the other side, unfortunately hitting his family jewels on the way down.

"Oh my gosh! Are you okay?" Rikku said, rushing to his side. Tidus lay curled in a ball on the floor of the landing bay, moaning for all his worth. Little stars danced in front of his eyes and he thought he was going to pass out all over again. "Here, have this," Rikku said quickly, tossing some strange mist over him. He felt instantly better, and sat up.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Just a potion. It's what we used to bring you back to health in the ruins. I guess the phoenix downs weren't strong enough to wake you," Rikku said, tapping her chin. "Now come on, I've got to show you around," she took his hand and pulled him up to a standing position. Several of Rikku's comrades that were still standing in the landing bay were laughing heartily.

"_Hey Rikku, found another man?"_

_"Did you warn him about your temper!" _Rikku frowned and let go of Tidus hand.

"_Shut up! Need I mention you pigs couldn't find a girl if she hit you right in the face!"_ Rikku said angrily. She turned and stormed out of the landing bay, Tidus hurrying after her.

"Hey! Hey Rikku, what did those guys say just now?" Tidus said, catching up to the fuming girl.

"Nothing. They didn't say anything," she said with a frown. Tidus shrugged and continued after her. "Where are we going?" he asked, after they had passed through several identical passages.

"To the cabin so I can get changed, and so I can start showing you around," she said with a shrug. They walked through the passageways for several more minutes before reaching a lift. Tidus stepped on behind Rikku, and she began to enter a code on the lift's number pad. In a few seconds the lift began to rise, and after a minute or two they were even with another long corridor. "Come on!" Rikku said, hurrying down the hallway, Tidus at her heels. "This alchemist gear is making me itchy!"

The door at the end of the hallway slid open to reveal a large, open, two-story room. On one side was a bar with at least twelve stools. An odd looking creature stood behind serving drinks to the misfit people sitting around the counter. Opposite the bar were several couches and chairs, almost all of which were occupied by more people who didn't seem to look like they belonged on the airship. A staircase led up to the platform above the couches and chairs, and it held at least twenty or thirty beds and a few book cases.

Rikku hadn't even stopped to look around, she just continued to the far wall at the back of the cabin and began to tap out something on a codepad that materialized when she waved her hand. A door appeared and slid open, and Rikku stepped inside, Tidus just barely making it in before the doors slammed shut behind him.

"Where are we now?" He asked, looking around the hallway they had stepped into. It was carpeted and decorated nicely, much different from the hallways they had walked through earlier. Several doors lined the corridor, and each had a name printed on them in neat lettering. Rikku stopped infront of the second to last door in the hallway, and pushed it open. She stomped in and began rummaging around in several drawers that were embedded into the walls.

"Sit down, make yourself at home," Rikku said airily, motioning to a large bean bag in one of the corners. Tidus plopped down in the odd chair, which was surprisingly comfortable. He watched Rikku mutter something in the Al Bhed language and continue to rummage around until she finally let out a delighted shriek. "There it is! Now I can get out of this itchy dressphere," A bright light swirled around Rikku, and Tidus felt his jaw drop when he saw her as the light cleared. At first he thought she was wearing just her undergarments, but when he realized she had made no motion to scream or blush, he figured that it wasn't.

Rikku turned around, and Tidus almost dropped his jaw all over again. She wore the equivalent of a bikini top that was bright yellow in color, and the shortest skirt he had ever seen in his life. The skirt was brown, and held to her body in just the right way. Several pouches dangled on a belt around her waist, and Tidus could see two yellow straps along her waistline that were obviously part of her underwear. White cloth ribbons lined her arms all the way up to her shoulders. Her hair remained the same, and Tidus wondered what had happened to her other outfit.

"Ha... now Shinra can't tell me I can't keep track of a dressphere," Rikku said under her breath. Tidus saw her insert what seemed to be a bright orange sphere shaped item into a small raised box at the foot of her bed. The box hummed for a few moments, and then remained silent. Rikku stretched and collapsed onto her bed. Her head hung off the side, so she was looking Tidus right in the face. "So, would you like the grand tour?" she asked. Tidus nodded slowly, and Rikku hopped off her bed and waved her arms in the air. "Then come on, let's go!" Tidus swallowed, and followed Rikku out of her room and back into the hallway.

"This is the crew quarters. No one except crew is allowed back here, but I made an exception for you," Rikku said with a wink. Tidus blushed and looked down at the floor. "We can't see the rest of the crew's rooms without permission, but I don't think you're missing anything," she said as they walked out of the hallway and back out into the cabin. "This, as you heard me say before, is the cabin. All of our refugees sleep and live here, unless we decide to hire them as a part of the crew. That creature behind the bar is Barkeep, our cook. He was once a refugee too, but when Brother tasted his cooking... he got the job. You'll have to have one of his meals later," Rikku said, as they headed out of the cabin and back down the hallway to the lift.

"Are all the hallways in the airship like this?" Tidus asked, looking around the gray metal corridor.

"Yes, unfortunately. You have to know your way around here without getting lost, because all of these corridors are identical. But they're very easy to clean... just one watera spell and they shine!" Rikku said shrugging. "It was Shinra's design actually, to have these walls be porous. The water cleans and then drains through the walls and floor and out into the air. He says it's giving back to Spira, something about clouds being made of moisture and how porous walls like these will help during a drought," Rikku said as she and Tidus stepped into the lift.

When the doors opened a minute later, Tidus was shocked to see they were inches away from the open air. He was even more shocked when Rikku skipped out into the middle of the large open platform and stretched out her arms. "This is the deck. Sometimes we have parties out here. It's also a really good place to come and think when you want to be alone,"

"But... but why aren't you falling off? This airship must be going really fast," Tidus said.

"Falling off? No way!" Rikku said with a laugh. She walked over to the very edge of the deck and kicked the air. Her foot just bounced back and she turned back to him and shrugged. "There's a barrier, duh. Another one of Shinra's genius ideas," Rikku said. She noticed that Tidus was still cowering inside the lift, and she walked over to him. "Are you scared or something? I promise you can't fall off,"

"I'm not... scared. Let's just keep going with the tour," Tidus said, making sure that he was still safely grounded inside the lift. Rikku shrugged and stepped back inside, tapping another code on the lift's codepad. After another minute the lift doors opened again, and Tidus was relieved to see that this time they were inside the airship.

"This is the engine room," Rikku said, stepping into the large room. Several gears stood pumping up and down, and Tidus was surprised to find that it made no noise. "Down in that small room is where some of our workers feed the engine and make sure all of the gears and pulleys and whatever are working right,"

"Why isn't it loud down here?" Tidus asked. Rikku walked over to a large piston that pumped up and down very rapidly, and tapped her fist against the area around it.

"Sound barriers. Once again, another one of Shinra's brilliant ideas," Rikku said, heading back to the lift. A minute or two later the lift doors opened to reveal another corridor. "Now this next room is the bridge. I don't know why it's called the bridge, but it's where everybody works... analyzing spheres, working on projects, navigations, piloting, or in Brother's case... commanding," Rikku said, as the doors opened, revealing a large open room with about two dozen people at various stations. He and Rikku were at the top of a staircase that led down into the room, and he followed her down.

"_Hey, Brother! I found another refugee!" _Rikku shouted. Tidus scratched his head, wondering what she had said. But before he could ask her, there was a loud clattering noise and a thump. Tidus and Rikku slowly turned around, coming face to face with a burly young man wearing tattered gray overalls with no shirt underneath. He had tattoos covering his chest and arms, and Tidus could've sworn they matched the decals he had seen on the outside of the airship. He had the same color blonde hair as Rikku, and it was styled in a droopy mohawk on his otherwise bald head.

_"Yeah? So?"_ the man said with raised eyebrows. Rikku stomped her feet on the floor.

"_I found him in the ruins we just blew up! He can't remember where he is or where he came from, or even what he was doing down there! Brother, he's different from all the other refugees we've taken in,_" Rikku said, a concerned expression on her face. The man just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms.

_"Do whatever you want with him, I haven't the time for refugees,"_ the man said, walking forward toward the platform in the room that was a few steps down from the one they were standing on.

_"Oh Brother, you're hopeless,"_ Rikku said shaking her head. The man disappeared from sight down into the next platform, and Rikku turned to Tidus. "That was Brother, in case you were wondering. He's commander of the Gullwings, and unfortunately, my brother," Rikku said shaking her head.

"And his name is Brother?" Tidus said, scratching his head. Rikku nodded.

"Don't ask me why. Come on and meet the rest of the crew. They're not all as weird as Brother," Rikku said, rolling her eyes. She led Tidus down to the next platform that Brother had disappeared to a few seconds earlier. Three spacious pods extended into the open full glass window of the airship. In the one they were closest to sat a young man with dark skin and goggles pulled tightly over his eyes. "This is Buddy. He's second in command, and co-pilot," Rikku said, pointing at the man.

"Hey Rikku," Buddy said with a wave. "Another refugee?" Rikku nodded.

"His name's Tidus, we picked him up in those ruins we just blew up," Rikku said. "He can't remember much but... that's okay. I'm giving him the grand tour," Tidus nodded at Buddy, before continuing behind Rikku down the narrow platform. He saw Brother sitting in the middle pod, his eyes intent on the empty airspace in front of him. They continued to the far pod, and stepped down beside it to see another young man with blonde spiky hair and an eye patch.

"Tidus, this is Gippal, our third-in-command," Rikku said, motioning to the man sitting in the pod.

"Well hey there, Rikku! Couldn't go another hour without saying hi to me, huh?" the man named Gippal said with a wink. Tidus saw Rikku's face tense before she put on a forced smile.

"Yeah, sure. Gippal, meet Tidus. He's the refugee we found down in those ruins," Rikku said airily.

"Nice to meet you," Gippal said, nodding at Tidus. "I was also once a refugee, but since I had no where to go, I joined the Gullwings. Now look at me! Third in command," he said with a smile.

"Right," Rikku said quickly. "We'll see you later," she said in a rush, practically shoving Tidus back up the stairs to the higher platform before Gippal could even say good-bye. Tidus wondered why Rikku had been so eager to get away from Gippal, but his thoughts were swept away as Rikku introduced him to a small human in a dark yellow full-body suit with goggles shielding his eyes and a mesh guard covering his mouth so he could still speak.

"Tidus, this is Shinra, the brains behind the Gullwings," Rikku said, motioning to the small human. At first Tidus thought Shinra was some kind of midget, but when the human spoke, he was surprised to hear a rather high-pitched voice escape from behind the mesh guard.

"So you're the refugee that was down in those ruins. Strage... very strange indeed... I'll have to run some tests on him later," Shinra said, turning to Rikku. She nodded and smiled.

"Wait... are you some sort of midget or something?" Tidus asked in a puzzled voice. Rikku laughed and Shinra scoffed.

"I'm no midget! I'm a kid!" Shinra said indignantly, crossing his arms.

"I guess I forgot to mention that part," Rikku said with a laugh. "Shinra's the brains behind the Gullwings _and_ he's also the youngest member," Tidus looked from Rikku to Shinra and back again.

"Sorry," he managed to choke out. "I just thought... Shinra was some sort of... uhm... adult?" Shinra shook his head and sunk back down into his large swivel chair.

"Bring him back later Rikku, I've got work to do now," Shinra said, tapping at the keyboard infront of him.

"Right. See ya Shinra," Rikku said, leading Tidus away from Shinra's station over to the foot of the the stairs leading back up to the lift. "I think that's about all of the crew that's really important," Rikku said, tapping her chin.

"Are you sure?" A cool voice said from above. Before Rikku and Tidus could turn around, a woman jumped infront of them. She had short silver hair and piercing reddish eyes. She wore a rugged looking black leather outfit with buckles and spikes.

"Oh! I almost forgot! This is Paine, another one of the Gullwings. Paine, this is Tidus. He's the refugee we picked up in those ruins," Rikku said. Paine politely nodded towards Tidus.

"Have you introduced him to her yet?" Paine said in a rather hushed voice, directed towards Rikku.

"Oh... no I haven't! I knew I was missing something. Thanks for the reminder. Where is she?" Rikku whispered quietly back to Paine.

"She's coming down here on the lift. You better hurry," Paine whispered quietly. She looked up and faced Tidus once more. "Nice to meet you," Paine said before hurrying off to a different part of the bridge. Before Tidus could speak, Rikku took his hand and half-dragged him up the stairs.

"Come on, let's go! You must be hungry! Barkeep will fix you up something really great, you'll see," Rikku said as she led him out of the bridge and down the corridor to the lift. But before they could get to it, the lift doors opened, revealing a young woman about Tidus' age.

She had shoulder-length brown hair, and was wearing a layered open white tank top with a pink hood attatched, dark blue shorts, and half of a three-tiered blue and white skirt. In the area of her tank top that revealed part of her chest was a carved symbol that looked somewhat familiar to Tidus. But the thing that was most unusual about her was her eyes - the right one a deep shade of green and the left one a piercing shade of blue. A content look stayed on her face as she stepped off the lift.

"Hi Rikku," she said smiling.

"Hey!" Rikku said, stepping over to the girl and touching her shoulder. "I'd like you to meet someone! Yuna, this is Tidus. He's the refugee we picked up in the ruins this morning. Tidus, this is Yuna, another member of the Gullwings as well as my cousin," Rikku said. Tidus looked up from the floor, and he and Yuna's eyes met.

Emotions hit him all at once again, just like they had when he had looked at his necklace that morning on the hover. It felt like he knew Yuna, although he had never spoken to her in his whole life. It was a rush of colors and feelings, and after a few seconds Tidus shook himself out of it.

"Hi!" Tidus said, putting on his best smile. Yuna looked over him and she smiled back.

"Hello," Yuna said. And with that, the rush of feeling was gone. "Paine and I are going over the mission plans in a little bit. We'll buzz you down to the bridge when we need you,"

"Right," Rikku said nodding.

"It was nice to meet you," Yuna said, smiling at Tidus once more before continuing down the hall to the bridge.

"Okay, we're off to get you some food!" Rikku said, walking ahead of Tidus into the lift. He stepped in after her, and turned so he was facing outwards. As the doors began to close, he was surprised to see Yuna looking back at him, her multicolored eyes staring into him. Their eyes locked in a gaze that seemed to last forever, only to be shattered moments later when the lift doors slammed shut.

**A/N: Hey thanks for reading! Finally I've been able to write a Final Fantasy fanfic. I hope you all have liked the first chapter, it was fairly easy to make it long (usually I have a hard time with making long chappies --) I have big plans for this story! It will combine characters and items from both FF X and X-2, but the storyline will be different. I'll also be developing the characters a bit differently. PLEEEEEEEEEEASE R&R! I always seem to manage to get plenty of views on my fanfictions, but barely any reviews! So if you like it, let me know you want me to continue! Hope you stay tuned **


	3. Latest Update!

**Hey there loyal Internet fandom!**

I know most authors don't resurrect a story after **YEARS**, but I've gotten in touch with my fandom-feelings that I seemed to have lost so long ago. I've made a **NEW ACCOUNT** h t t p : / / w w w . f a n f i c t i o n . n e t / ~ t h e i r i s c h a n, on which you can find this story **OTHERWORLD**, as well as any of my other creations.

**I've ****FINALLY**** got this story planned out through to the end, so ****PLEASE**** check it out!**

~Cheers,

I.C.

theirischan

h t t p : / / w w w . f a n f i c t i o n . n e t / ~ t h e i r i s c h a n


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